Dennis McCarthy: Caring and giving -- that's what the holiday season is all about

Larry Plumley sat in a Burbank diner having a cup of coffee to calm his nerves last Christmas Eve. He had one of those big, loud parties uptown to show up at -- the ones where Santa Claus walks in and hands out toys to kids who know he's a fraud and already have too much stuff crammed in their rooms.

But it was a seasonal job and Plumley could use the extra money. He had been playing Santa for more than 20 years and could spot the kids who appreciated what he had to offer versus the kids who took it all for granted.

The little girl who walked in the diner holding her father's hand looked to him like a kid who appreciated what he had to offer.

"She just sat there smiling at me, too nervous to talk," Plumley says. "I asked her what she wanted Santa to bring her for Christmas.

"She could hardly get the words out of her mouth. A Malibu Barbie doll, she said. I smiled because I knew I had one in my bag.

"When I pulled it out her eyes got big as saucers. She started to cry she was so happy.

"I walked out of that diner feeling great. I knew there was going to be some kid at the party who wasn't going to be too happy about not getting her Malibu Barbie doll.

"But it's Santa's call who gets what. I knew the little girl in the diner would appreciate it more."

Twenty-two years on the job and LAPD officer Dario Del Core had never shot anyone. That night, though, he was coming close.

The young man holding the bloody samurai sword wouldn't drop it no matter how many times Del Core ordered him to.

He just kept coming forward out of the darkness with a dazed look on his face.

"My finger was on the trigger. One more step toward me with that sword in his hand and I would have had to shoot," Del Core says.

The guy took the one more step.

Del Core started to apply pressure to the trigger, looking straight into the man's eyes. That's when he saw his body jerk.

He wasn't dazed or drunk. He was having an epileptic fit. The young man fell to the ground, dropping the sword. Del Core put his weapon back in his holster and called for an ambulance.

"He had been play-fighting with the sword with his friends who all had some degree of mental disability," Del Core says. "He had cut his hand, got scared and ran.

"After the ambulance took him away I sat on the curb and realized just how close this had come to a tragic end. I thanked God that an innocent life had been spared.

"You ask what I have to be thankful for this Christmas? That I didn't pull the trigger."

So many great Christmas stories, so little room to give them all justice.

Julie Kundert was a victim of physical abuse who made it back this year thanks to the help she and her children received at the Children's Assault Treatment Services unit at Northridge Medical Center.

Her present this Christmas to the staff at CATS, the Police Department, nurses and court prosecutors who helped her is to use her talent as a yoga instructor to help "heal the healers."

"They see so much violence, face so many stressful situations like mine every day. Somebody has to be there for them."